Social media and its perpetuation of microtrends kills the art of personal style
By SABRINA FIGUEROA — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu
Personal style, in terms of fashion sense, is something I absolutely adore and notice frequently. Every day, I see dozens of students on campus and in my classes dressed in gorgeous, unique combinations of clothing. I think it’s incredible when someone can make you see the potential of pieces you may not have picked up in the store yourself or when someone reflects aspects of themselves in what they wear. Are you ever at a thrift store and someone who dresses 10 times better than you walks in, so you just give up and leave? It takes real personal-style talent to get people to leave. I admire that.
However, in the past couple of years, personal style has been dying off. In part, this may have to do with social media and its identity as an instantaneous communication method. As soon as you press “post,” your video or picture is in the algorithm and can blow up overnight — or maybe even in an hour.
The instantaneous nature of social media has made it so that clothing trends come and go fast: almost too fast. As soon as you buy into one trend — literally — chances are there’s another one circulating the internet. And many will buy that one, too. And then another. And another. Until, finally, they have a pile of polyester clothing items that they will donate to a thrift store while asking themselves: “Why did I even buy that?”
Social media perpetuates fast fashion and consumerism in a way that is almost unhealthy for not only the environment but also our bank accounts. Fashion production is detrimental to water sources, leading to drought and polluting rivers and streams. Additionally, a staggering 85% of all textiles end up in waste dumps every year. In 2019, the United Nations Environment Programme stated that the fast fashion industry was the second-biggest consumer of water, responsible for 2 to 8% of global carbon gas emissions. These emissions are also expected to rise by more than 60% by 2030, consequently contributing to climate change and global warming.
Fast fashion, consumerism and social media also completely suck the soul out of personal style, because now the mindset for many is to just dress “unique” to receive validation from others. Or, it may even drive people away from staples in their own personal style for fear that people will think they are just following a microtrend.
When Pinterest predicted “Fisherman Aesthetic” as an up-and-coming trend in 2025, some expressed their hatred for it in the comments, saying that the trend was “ugly.” To be fair, it’s not my cup of tea either, but people need to realize that you don’t have to take part in a trend, unless you genuinely like it or were already dressing like it.
If we shift our perspective from dressing to look “cool” for others to simply dressing for the sake of enjoying ourselves, the art of personal style does not have to disappear. The point is to wear what you want and what you like. And, if you don’t know what you like without social media telling you what to like, figure it out Runaway Bride style. Doing so can be a fun journey — allowing yourself to spend time finding out what you actually like!
If you don’t know where to start, thrifting is always a good way to find unique, durable clothing items at a cheaper price. It’s also a great way to start decreasing your carbon footprint; just because we have to be consumers in our society to live doesn’t mean we can’t consciously make better shopping choices.
Though thrifting takes patience, so does accruing your own style sensibility. Personal style takes time to create, as much as art does, because you have to get a sense of yourself first. It’s all a reflection of you.
Written by: Sabrina Figueroa — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu
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